Abstract

Narrative gap exists widely in both Eastern and Western narrations. From ancient to modern times, many scholars from China and abroad have explored this topic without explicitly mentioning the concept of Narrative gap. This paper attempts to study narrative gap specifically from the perspective of narratology on the basis of former research achievement.

This dissertation attempts to study the creating, expression, filling and the value of narrative gap systematically in the way of theoretical elaboration and text interpretation. It consists of six parts. Chapter one is an introduction, including the definition of narrative gap, a literature review of the study, and the objective and innovation of the dissertation. In order to emphasize the importance of this study, the introduction investigates the covering of meaning in narrative communication. It is argued that narrative is a kind of covering while presenting. Narrative gaps exist in every narrative text and is of great importance in narratological studies, but have received less attention. In this consideration, this dissertation attempts to study on this subject systematically and comprehensively. The objective of this study include the making, the expression, the filling of narrative gap and their values. This study is innovative in two respects. Firstly, it advances the notion of“narrative gap”and takes as a category in narratology; secondly, it expounds the values of narrative gap in narrative communication, especially its value of rhetoric and meaning proliferation value. It is particularly proposed that the structure of a narrative gap is something like“mortise and tenon”in traditional Chinese furniture conjunction style. That means the reader will fill the narrative gap like tenon does to mortise.

Chapter Two analyzes the notion of narrative gap, defines its concept, nature and major categories. It is said that narrative gap is a narrative phenomenon with above－zero narrative time and zero text passage. The nature of the gap is not absolute void, but absence, or“null in presence”. The gap includes gap as basis of narration and gap as textual structure.

Chapter Three explores the motivations of narrative gap. It is believed that narrative gap is motivated by limitation of language, existence of non－narratable events and consideration of narrative strategy.

Chapter four probes into the expression of narrative gap, or, the nonverbal expression of unnarrated events. Narrative gap does not mean complete void of words, but indirect expression in narrative text. We believe that every narrative gap has its own way of saying and name these ways as narrative gap expression. The study attempts to analyze narrative expression in categories of part/whole, cause/effect, vice/master and reverse/direct.

Chapter Five excavates the filling of narrative gap though discussion of three respects. The first is basis of filling. The basis is laid on the relatively certain meaning that a receiver gets from the text, which comes from the intention of the author, the potential of text and the reception of reader. The second is principles for filling, including the principles of openness, associate －text －dependence, harmony, ethic and balance－inclination. The third is the methods of filling, including expounding, transplanting and association.

Chapter Six discusses the value of narrative gap. Narrative gap contains three values. First is value of meaning proliferation. Narrative gap filling could be a very open and dynamic so that narrative receivers could fill narrative gap with materials from his/her experience and imagination as well. In this way the meaning of the text is proliferated. Second is the rhetoric value of narrative gap. Text with adequate narrative gaps would be more convincing. The gap filling is way of writerly reading, that is to say, the receivers of the narrative could filling the gap with the material from their brain texts and filling it as their expected. Hence the reader's horizon would be developed and the narrative becomes a mutual communication. The third is its truth value. A narrative with more gaps would make a more real world.

Key words: Narrative; Narrative Gap; Creating; Expression; Value